Furniture construction



J 1946? M. WEINGARTEN 2,393,349

- U QFURNELTURE CONSTRUCTION FilgdfMaj 7, 1945 2,Sheets-Sheet 1 7uRRHw [L/E/NEHF' TEN INVENTOR ATTORNEY ure 1.

be seen from the plane 4--4 on Figure 3 with certain of the padding and covering added.

Figure 5 is a View in perspective of a drum carrying a continuous corrugated spring strip.

Figure 6 is a transverse sectional view of the fiat strip before being undulated to form the spring strip.

Figure 7 is a view corresponding to Figure 6 showing a second form of strip prior to corrugation thereof.

Figure 8 is a view corresponding to Figure 6 showing a third form of strip prior to corrugation thereof.

Figure 9 is a front elevational view of the sofa with parts of the padding and covering removedto show the mounting and disposition of the spring elements along the front edge of the seating portions of the sofa.

Figure 10 is a plan view of Figure 9 with parts of the padding and covering removed to show underlying construction. In this figure the left portion of the seat platform is of so called single sprung while the right portion of the seat platform is double sprung.

Figure 11 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical sectional view as might be seen from the plane ll-Il on Figure 10 with some of the covering and padding in place.

In accordance with the invention, a flat strip of resilient material, preferably steel, is corrugated in repetitive fashion to form a uniform undulating pattern. The undulations pemit lengths cut from the strip supply to be bowed and after I installation, flexed. The strips may be placed upon the seat rails, back rails or other frame portions. of the article of furniture in parallel rows, and the spacing between the rows may be varied, depending upon the stiffness or softness of the support desired. The strips may be cut into 10I1g lengths or short lengths and secured in bowed position, in staggered arrangement along the front edge of the seat portions of the article of furniture in order to provide additional support at this point and to produce a desired right angled configuration in the forward edge of the seat portions, so as to provide a so called soft edge below and slightly to the rear of the knees of the sitter. In accordance with an alternative construction the rows of the spring elements disposed in one direction are crossed at substantially right angles by a plurality of spaced and parallel spring strips, the latter group of spring strips nesting within the corrugations of the first set of strips.

As best seen in Figures 6, 1 and 2 a flat strip [5 of a spring steel or similar material, appearing in cross section as shown in Figure 6, is corrugated in any suitable manner so that the undulations thereof appear substantially as seen in Fig- The strip will then have a plurality of relatively top portions, generally indicated by numeral 16, a plurality of relatively bottom portions generally indicated by numeral l1, and a plurality of vertical portions generally indicated by numerals l8 and I9. Since for reasons of lightness of weight, responsive action, ease of handling and installing, and economy it is desirable that the strip I 5 be of relatively thin gauge stock. in order to provide proper operation and for the purpose of preventing fatigue and consequent cracking, the top portions, bottom portions, and vertical portions are joined by a plurality of rounded bends such as the bends 20, 2|, 22, 23, 24 and 25. In the fabrication of the strip l5 as above described the bends to .25 are preferably disposed at right angles to the longitudinal axis of the strip I5 so that after corrugation and 'when relaxed, the corrugated strip generally indicated by-numeral 26 may have the side edges 27 and 28 thereof disposed in parallel vertical planes.

The strip I5 may be of any desired length as commercially available, and after the strip l5 has been corrugated, the corrugated strip generally indicated by numeral 26 may be coiled spirally or helically about a suitable carrier therefor such as the drum 29. The corrugations in the strip 26 permit sumcient flexure so that the strip 26 may be conveniently stored upon, transported, and removed from the drum 29 as needed.

Since the strip 26 is thus in a relatively continuous form, when it is used, it becomes necessary only to cut off (with shears or other suitable cutting device) a portion of the strip of the desired length which upon severance from the strip 26 becomes a. single spring element such as for example the spring element 30 illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive.

In Figure 3 there is seen a fragmentary view of a sofa 3 I. The sofa 3| as shown illustrates one of the standard forms of furniture frame construction, including for example a seat front rail 32, a seat rear rail 33, a seat side rail 34, a back bottom rail 35, a back top rail 36 and a back side upright 31.

The spring element 30, for example as shown in Figure 3, before installationmay be a portion of the strip 26 of a length substantially greater than the distance between the forward outer surface 38 of the stringer or rail 32 and the rear outer surface 39 of the stringer or rail 33. Thus, when the forwardmo'st upper undulation 40 is placed upon the top surface 4| with the vertical portions 42 and 43 thereof engaging the surface 38 and the surface 44 of the rail 32, said forwardmost undulation forms a forward seat, saddle or bracket 45. The bracket 45 may be secured upon the rail 32' for example by driving case hardened nails 46 through the top surface and the vertical portion 42 into the surface 4| and the surface 38 respectively, of the rail 32. The nails 46 pierce the strip I5 as they are driven in. In Figure 1 the nails 46 are shown as not fully driven. The spacing between the vertical portions of the strip 26 are preferably substantially equal to the thickness of the rails or other corresponding frame portions of the articles of furniture on which the spring elements are to be used and substantially greater than the distance between the side edges 21 and 28. Since thematerial of which the strip 26 is composed is resilient thevertical portions 42 and 43 may be moved with relation to each other in order toaccommodate rails of variousv thicknesses within a range of thickness.

The rearmost uppon undulation 41 of the spring element 30 may be similarlypositioned upon the rail 33 with the vertical portion 48 and 49 in place uponthe surfaces 50 and-39 respectively. The undulation 41 thus forms the rear seat, saddle or bracket 5| which maybe attached to the rail 33 by suitable securing means such as the nails 52. It may thus. be seen that both the front bracket 45 and the rear bracket it may be installed with such simple tools as a pair of shears and a hammer. v

While as illustrated in Figures 1 to 4 inclusive, the spring element 30 is upwardly bowed or arched by cutting the corrugated strip 26 to a length substantially greater thanjthe distance between the surface 38 -a ndthesurface 39. When thecorrugated strip 26 is cut 'to adength subag regate or jute cloth followed by padding; muslin and:

levelsubstantially thesame as the level of the topsurface 41 'andthe top surface 533 If thecorrugated strip 26' is cut to a length less-than the distance between the surfaces 38 and -39=the= spring element '30 may be put'un'd'er tensionv so that the forwardmost and rearmost mdulations thereof may formbrackets to engagethe rails 32 and: 33 respectively, resulting in a definite spring tension, with tension increasing immediately with-the placing of a load upon the seat platform. T

It' may be noted at this. point in the disclosure that the. arched form; of spring element; constructed: in accordance with the present lI1VI1 tion is not' subject to permanent disfigurement or distortion if thesaid' spring element is over loaded within certain limits. This'is'sobecause the greatest resiliency exists in a direction or directions which correspond to the principal force components produced by a sitter or personlyin'g upon the article of furniture. I g

After a spring element such as-the springelement 30'- hasbeen installed upon the sof'a 3 'l' as-has just been described, additional spring elements such as the spring elements 54; 55; 55,=and so-forth maybe installed in a similar fashion. Depending upon: the type of spring action d'esir'edgthe springielements 30-, 54, 55, and lifi rnay be spaced from each other as desired. For a given load closer inter-spring spacing will-result in a; stiffer action and wider spacing will result in a softer or easier action. This. spaced and parallel arrangement-cf the springelements 3B} 54; 55 and 56 is best seen in the left; portionof Figure 10.

Turning now to Figures 9, 10, and 4r-the installation of portions of thecorru'gated strip 25 along and above the: seat front railillus-'- trated. The spring elements Sil to 67 inclusive in the form of a plurality of bows may be formed eitherfrom a single long strip or from aplurality" of shorter strips since they I are secured at thepoints of contact. suchas the: points dil te 1 6 on the upper surface H of the "rail 32 by securing means as for example. nailssimilar to the'nails 46 previously described;

For the purpose of providing a more nearly rectilinear upper active surface, a second strip severed from the corrugated .strip 26 maybe placed rearwardly of the first strip which includes the spring elements 170.67 inclusive The second strip may thus include the spring elements T|B5. Here again a single strip or separ ate strips may be used to form. each series ofthe spring elements, the spring elements IT-85' being attached to the rail 32 to'thepoints-of' attachment 85-95. The spring elements-E1 45 are staggered in position with relation; to the spring elements Bil-6T as best seen in l 'igure 9. The points of attachment 86-95 are suitably integrated with the rail 32 as by means of auxiliary supports or blocks s6 attached to the upper portions of the surface 44 (Figure 3).

After the spring elements 30, 54, 55 and 56 and others corresponding thereto have been put in place as previously described and after the spring elements 651-61 and "ll-85 have also been put in place as above described the resilient surface formed by the said spring elements may be covered in any suitable manner well known in the upholstered art, utilizing for example burlap decorativeouter covering. I

- When'the present constructionis.utilizedi on singlechairs; for example: in which a resilient. front edge is-not desired thespringscorrespond ing tc .thespring. elements 60-61 and/.0r;'1]:85

may beeliminated with a" cor-.responding:losszof this function.

' The spring: elements "corresponding to: the

spring: elements may behinstalledupon the rails 35' and 36 to. form the. spring. base for-the:

back of the chair in: am'anner icorrespondingto that describedhereinabove;. the rails 351and .36 being'm'erely substituted in this operation-for the rails. 32 and 33;. The length'of' the spring; elements 9 I and their. interspacingmay be adjusted in accordance with. the. description previously given with regard tdthe spring; elementiit. As" is well knownin theiupholstery art the springing, action=intheback ofthe chair is'preferably softer. orless'stiff. thanthat in-tthe seat of the chair.

Turning'no'w to the right hand portionofzFigu-re 1 0' and to Figure'll'. another formof therpresent invention is shown: inwhich additional spring; elements are; added which are" disposed at substantially right angles to the first spring elements. For the purpose of avoiding needless repetition; parts corresponding to those previously described are given the same reference characters with: an added single prime mark. Thus in addition to: the springelements 30', 54 557, 56', and soforth, additional spring elements such as the spring; elements 130, I54, I55, I56 and so forth. are added. The transversely disposed spring ele-' ments I38, I54, 155, and I56are, as seen in Figures 10 and 11, arranged transversely-of the spring. elements corresponding to the spring elements- 30' and longitudinally of the sofa- 31 furthermore the .springelements corresponding to the spring; elements I30: are disposed below the springv ele--' ments corresponding tonthe spring element 30' so that the latter nest within the'undulations of the former.- Either the front to rear spring. elements group may nest Withinthe side to. side.spring elements group (as shown) or Viceversa-it is a: matter of choice as towhich group is laid down first. Since the spacings between the vertical portions Isl-and. I32, and |33and 134, (Figure 11) are normally substantially greater than the distance between theedges. 27-" and 28. the. crossing spring. elements may be properly. nested. There is between the spring elements corresponding to the spring element 30- and the spring elements corresponding to-the spring ele.-;

ment I30 suitable insulating materiallfi; suchas burlap or jute cloth. This insulating material? is to prevent noises which might be causcd by undesired rubbing between the different sets of spring elements. As may best be seen in Figure 11 the spring elements corresponding tov the spring elements 30 are prevented from laterallyshifting by abutting against thevertical portions corresponding to the vertical portionsv 1-31 and I32. This retards undesirable displacement of the spring elements in relationto each other without the use of old hand tying. After the spring platform formed. by the crossed sets of'spring elements is completed the same may be covered in the usual manner with additional upholstery and padding materials as is well known in the art, including for example a burlap inner covering I36 and padding I31.

For the purpose of providing greater stiffness in the corrugated strip 26 the same may be formed from an original blank strip l4 having a cross sectional appearance as seen in Figure 7. The strip I4 is provided with a plurality of longitudinally extending ribs l2 and I3. These ribs are preferably parallel to and spaced from the outer longitudinal edges of the strip [4.

Another form of strip H is shown in Figure 8 which may be provided along the longitudinal free edges thereof with beads 9 and I0. These beads may be formed by rolling the edges toward each other with a corresponding increase in the stiffness of the finished corrugated strip corresponding to the corrugated stripZB.

I wish it to be understood that I do not desire to be limited to the exact details of construction shown and described, for obvious modifications will occur to a person skilled in the art.

While the seat front rail 32, the seat rear rail 33, the back bottom rail 35, and the back top rail 36 are shown as being rectangular in cross section, the portions thereof upon which the saddle or bracket ends of spring elements, corresponding to the spring elements 30, or 30, or I30 rest may be rounded, and since said saddles or brackets are flexible and have rounded bends, they may be rotated about said rail portions to adjust the action or bowed position of the spring elements before the securing means such as the nails 46 and 52 are driven.

In the following claims the term furniture is intended to mean all articles in which a resiliently mounted surface is used to carry or support the body of the user.

I claim:

1. In furniture construction, the combination of an article of furniture having a frame, and a spring element in the form of a corrugated ribbon of resilient material, said ribbon having a repetitive series of undulations including vertical portions, spaced flat top portions, spaced flat bottom portions in staggered position with relation to said top portions at least one of the corrugations in said ribbon being engageable upon said frame and forming a bracket for the attachment of said element upon said frame a flat top engaging the upper surface of said frame and an opposed pair of vertical portions engaging the opposite side walls of said frame.

2. In furniture construction the combination of an article of furniture having a frame including a rail of predetermined width, and a spring element in the form of a corrugated ribbon of resilient material, the corrugations of said ribbon including a series of top portions and bottom portions in staggered arrangement and vertical portions connecting said top and bottom portions, adjacent vertical portions being spaced from each other in pairs a distance substantially equal to said width of said rails, one of said corrugations in the ribbon being engaged upon said rail forming a bracket attaching the spring element to said rail.

3. In furniture construction the combination of an article of furniture having a frame including a rail of predetermined width, and a spring element in the form of a corrugated ribbon of resilient material, the corrugations of said ribbon including a series of top portions and bottom portions of equal length in staggered arrangement and vertical portions connecting said top and bottom portions, adjacent vertical portions being spaced from each other in pairs a distance substantially equal to said width of said rails, one of said corrugations in the ribbon being engaged upon said rail forming a bracket attaching the spring element to said rail.

4. In furniture construction the combination of an article of furniture having a frame including a rail of predetermined width, and a spring element in the form of a corrugated ribbon of resilient material, the corrugations of said ribbon including a series of top portions and bottom portions in staggered arrangement, vertical portions, and bends connecting said top and bottom portions to the said vertical portions, adjacent vertical portions being spaced from each other in pairs a distance substantially equal to said width of said rails, one of said corrugations in the ribbon being engaged upon said rail forming a bracket attaching the spring element to said rail.

5. In furniture construction the combination of an article of furniture having a frame including a rail of predetermined width, and a spring element in the form of a corrugated ribbon of resilient material, the corrugations of said ribbon including a series of top portions and bottom portions in staggered arrangement and vertical portions connecting said top and bottom portions, adjacent vertical portions being spaced from each other in pairs a distance substantially equal to said width of said rails one of said corrugations in the ribbon being engaged upon said rail forming a bracket attaching the spring element to said rail and means to secure said bracket upon said rail.

6. In furniture construction, the combination of an article of furniture having a frame including a pair of rails each of predetermined width and each having a top wall and two side walls, and an arcuately arranged upwardly bowed spring element in the form of a corrugated ribbon of resilient material, the corrugations of said ribbon including a series of top portions and bottom portions in staggered arrangement and vertical portions connecting said top and bottom portions, adjacent vertical portions being spaced from each other in pairs a distance substantially equal to said rails, the end corrugations in the ribbon being engaged upon said rails, the vertical portions of the end corrugations engaging between them the respective side walls of the respective frame members, said endmost corrugations acting as integral attaching brackets for connecting said spring element to said rails, downward pressure of said upwardly bowed spring member being transmitted as a lateral outward thrust against the opposed inner side walls of said rails.

MURRAY WEINGARTEN. 

